People: Please don't stream and drive

Twitch streamers who make the stupid and dangerous decision to stream while driving are being banned by Twitch.

A string of Twitch streamers who use the IRL category (which stands for "in real life" and doesn't require streamers to be playing a video game) have been banned over the past few weeks, Kotaku noticed. Although the ban reasons listed were not specific to driving, Twitch's community guidelines specifically state that, notably, "content that requires operating video capture equipment and a moving vehicle simultaneously" is not permitted.

Although Twitch does not specifically comment on terms of service violations, it's pretty clear that Twitch streamers AAronMillicant, Connor Lipke, and Asian Andy were all banned for streaming while driving. AAronMillicant and Connor Lipke were both banned for violating the category "self-harm" during or following streams where they were holding the camera while driving.

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Although Asian Andy did not specify what category his ban fell under, he pointed out that this clip from his stream may have led to the ban:

Streaming while driving is an incredibly irresponsible thing to do. There is a reason texting while driving is illegal in 44 out of 50 U.S. states. Driving while distracted can have deadly consequences.

When a streamer is focused on talking to viewers, making sure they're in frame, or responding to comments, they are taking their eyes and attention off the road. In distracted moments, drivers can drift off the road and hit a street lamp or a pedestrian, drift into an oncoming lane and hit another car head-on, or miss a road sign or traffic light and cause an accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notes that in 2015 alone, nearly 3,500 people were killed due to distracted drivers and nearly 400,000 people were injured.

Not only is streaming while driving illegal in most states, it's dangerous.

Some streamers may feel pressure to stream as much as possible to reach as many viewers as they can, but safety should always come first.

Put the camera down when you drive to the grocery story; those extra views aren't worth the cost of hurting or killing yourself or others.